Under a large variety of scene illuminants, a human observer sees the same range of colors; a white piece of paper remains resolutely white independent of the color of light under which it is viewed. In contrast, color imaging systems, such as digital cameras, are less color constant.
The color constancy problem—determining the color of the light that illuminates a scene and correcting an image to account for its effect—is problematic for many imaging applications. In particular, digital cameras rely on color constancy algorithms to detect illuminants and generate final images. The performance of these color constancy algorithms has a direct impact to the overall image quality of the camera, and the human eye is sensitive to such imperfections.
Effectiveness of known color constancy algorithms varies. None of the known algorithms gives perfect results, and no one algorithm dominates the others in terms of accuracy. The performance of these algorithms, however, impacts the overall image quality of the camera.
For these and other reasons there is a need for the present invention.